The IOC has extended the deadline for the amended constitution of IOA which was earlier July 15. This can act as a breather for IOA which was suspended.

The draft of the amended constitution is under review by the IOC. July 15 was fixed so that election can be scheduled by September 1 which can provide scope for removal of the ban on India that was slapped on December 4, 2012. IOC issued a letter to sports ministry here specifying it required more time to look into the various issues which were complex enough if all the parameters were to be taken into account.

29-Jun-2013Others

Ishrat Jahan case: Updates

Congress slammed the BJP for the allegation it has put forward that CBI had been misused to involve the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan.

The Congress stated that if BJP were not guilty, they should not be apprehensive of a probe and let the law take its own course.

On the other hand, the BJP stated that the Congress had hatred against Narendra Modi and that the CBI as an agency was facing abuse for getting involved into questionable testimony. Earlier, Gujarat High Court had asked the CBI to finish by July 4, its investigation in the case where Ishrat Jahan’s death happened due to the police encounter, and three others also lost their lives.

The CBI was also asked to complete its probe so that the no one who was accused could be released on bail.

The court also agreed to CBI’s petition that Satish Verma an IPS officer from Gujarat be removed from the investigating team from June 23. A senior leader from JD-U stated that an intelligence officer who was supposed to have close links with Narendra Modi had given incorrect details so as to frame a fake encounter.

29-Jun-2013Others

Rescue operation in Uttarakhand in final stages

Relief work at Uttarakhand reached its final stages, where the main focus is on evacuating the pilgrims from Badrinath, where as many as 1400 people were stuck.

Along with that, relief materials are being sent to the villages. The people who are living in low-lying regions of Bhagirathi River have been asked to move to safer places as the water level seemed to be rising.

Evacuation at Harsil was completed.

From Badrinath, 842 people were evacuated. They were airlifted.

The Army is now stressing on saving 2,000 who are people believed to be stranded at higher altitudes.

The roads from Joshimath to Govindghat have been made operational and rescue operation was carried out by foot. There is still no clear indication about the number of people who lost their lives in the devastating floods.

29-Jun-2013Business

Petrol price hike by Rs. 1.82 per litre

Petrol prices were hiked again by Rs.1.82 per litre, exclusive of taxes and this was effective from 12:00 am on June 29.

This was because of declining value of rupee against the dollar and hike of crude prices in international market as informed by Indian Oil Corporation.

The worrying factor is that this was the third time petrol prices increased in a month. It increased by Rs.0.75/liter on June 1, and Rs.2/liter on June 15. After applying the local tax the prices of petrol per litre:

Prakash Jha's Satyagraha, which has Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan and Kareena Kapoor in the cast, will release on August 30.

Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpai and Amrita Rao also star in the movie.

Jha stated that in August there were other two major releases that is Chennai Express by Rohit Shetty which stars Shah Rukh Khan releases on August 8 and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara starring Akshay Kumar on August 15.

So some time was needed for the release of his movie and it’s good that it releases on August 30.

29-Jun-2013Science and Technology

Railway booking to happen through SMS

Now people will be able to book tickets on railways through SMS. The pilot project was unveiled by the Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge. This would not only be convenient for the travelers but would also be able to deal with the issue of touts.

The service, if it works well, can be very popular as 80% people in India use mobile phones. But what can act as a deterrent is the payment mode for which a user has to get an account through a bank or agency having the approval of the RBI. As it is, online booking now accounts for 45% for ticket reservation. Things are being worked on to provide safe and secure mobile payment mode.